If any elected officials or community leaders come across this message in 2050 or a time more distant in the future, I’ve got a simple request. Please don’t name streets in bad neighborhoods, public housing projects, troubled public schools, or half-abandoned weed-strewn parks in the ghetto after Barack Obama. We thought we were honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by naming such public works and facilities after him, but now, in 2008, the initials “MLK” evokes not just the legacy of the civil rights leader, but also the street where half of the murders reported on the local nightly newscast take place, or the high school with the 75% dropout rate.
Leaders of the future, learn from our mistake. I really don’t want my grandchildren to be saying “You don’t want to go anywhere near BHO Drive.” Thank you in advance, leaders of the future.